Pale in Comparison
by Verboten Byacolate
Summary: If I could attack with a more sensible approach, obviously that's what I'd be doing. [Sasuke.Sakura.artistic streak][Pastel Drug spinoff][MILDshikaino]


_A/N;_ I have been reading so much SasuSaku lately, and I realized that I hadn't really written any for… um… ever. Directly. And so, I write this. It's a small spin-off from Pastel Drug, but… you don't necessarily have to read PD to get this. I just thought it would be fun!

_Disclaimer;_ Naruto _totally_ was mine, but Kishimoto… er… stole him. –shot-

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**Pale in Comparison**

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"You absolutely suck."

"Sasuke!" she cried indignantly, quickly removing her brush from the canvas. "You're not very nice!"

"That was a terrible insult," he retorted, taking the brush from her hands and rinsing it out in the small cup of water resting on the easel by his hand. She pouted, folding her arms defensively across her chest.

"Well, I'm just… not good at hurting peoples' feelings!"

"Or painting," he muttered, handing her the brush once more. She snatched it from his hand and turned, chewing furiously on her lower lip.

"I know I suck at painting! I never said I would be good!"

"But you never warned me that you would be terrible either. I thought you would have some talent at least."

"Stop insulting me, and HELP me, then!"

"First of all, you might want to start with not globbing the paint on your brush."

"But I have such a large area to paint!" she countered uncertainly.

"Yes, but doing that will just clump the substance in some areas, and it'll be too thin in others. Good art takes time, so don't be in such a rush to get this done."

"… yes." She sighed. "You're right." Wiping her brow with her paint-covered sleeve, she left a small trail of pink on her forehead without noticing. She turned back to the canvas and sighed.

"To paint large areas, use _this_ brush." He handed her a brush with a longer rim, more bristles in a line than in one circular area. "Didn't you listen to Sai's seminar?"

"The gay boy? No."

"He's not gay, Sakura."

"The hell he's not," she snorted, dabbing the new brush in a faint, watered down orange-red color.

"He's as gay as I am."

Sakura opened her mouth to retort with her exact thoughts, but at the last moment, shut it. Tightly. And instead grinned wickedly.

He scowled. "Stop it."

She laughed, tracing the penciled outline of the horizon with the orange. "I can't!"

Sasuke glared and, without thinking, dipped two fingers into the lush forest green and called her attention to him. Smirking, he lightly jabbed her forehead, leaving green dots and even more puzzled green eyes beneath them.

"What did you… AGH!!" she cried, feeling the paint drip down the bridge of her nose. "Son of a-!"

He laughed. It was unexpected, and the sound surprised both of them, but he couldn't help it. After a second of glaring, she too joined in with her own joyous giggles. And then, suddenly, she realized just how vulnerable he was in laughter. Slicking a finger's-worth of bright pinkish red paint onto her lips she dove forward in one evil leap, attacking his cheek with the embarrassing color.

And she ran before he could register what she'd done.

--

Ino glanced up from the campus' outdoor café to see Sakura sprinting from Kurenai's paint room. She was about to call out to her smock-clad friend when she noticed a flurry of black and blue movement behind the girl. It took a moment for the blur to register in her mind as _the_ Sasuke Uchiha; Konoha Academy's most revered, stoic, deadpanning critic.

"What in the world…?"

To one side of her Chouji laughed when Sakura stumbled and Sasuke took the opportunity to snatch the farm girl by the arm, pointing at his cheek before making flurried movements on Sakura's forehead. They could hear the shriek from their table, a hundred or so yards away. On Ino's other side, Shikamaru snorted.

"Opposites attract," he said with partial amusement, his chin resting in his palm. "How cliché."

"Ooh, I saw him first!" Ino said with halfhearted ire.

"You've got your own opposite to attract, Ino," Chouji said, sipping his Pepsi.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" she squealed.

"Ow, ow!! I didn't mean _me_, so stop hitting me! OW!!"

"You suck at subtlety, Chouji," Shikamaru grinned.

"Well, since you think so, GET YOUR OPPOSITE OFF OF ME!!"

"Too troublesome," he replied, glancing back at the two paint-smeared individuals across the grounds. They were still now. And close. Very close. The maybe-he-shouldn't-be-watching kind of close.

"SHIKAMARU!"

"Troublesome. That's what you are," he said, hefting himself up and yanking Ino from Chouji. "Shouldn't you be plotting their wedding or something?" he asked the blonde, who followed his line of vision. She grinned. "You know what? You're right."

Shikamaru blinked. Chouji stared. Ino smiled. "And you two are going to help me!"

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Hate to break it to you, but it's out of my control.  
Forces go to work while we are sleeping.  
If I could attack with a more sensible approach  
Obviously that's what I'd be doing. 

- Fin -

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**Lyrics: **_**Gravity**_**, by the Dresden Dolls.  
****Writing this, I couldn't help but feel that I was writing Yukari and George from **_**Paradise Kiss**_**. –sweat- Of course, George would smile, not smirk… and Yukari might hit him, which is a very un-Sakura-like thing to do (to Sasuke), but still.****  
-Bya**


End file.
